Gaza Visit, February 2023
In February 2023, Oliver McTernan travelled to Gaza to participate in discussions organised by Gaza-based think tank, House of Wisdom. These meetings focused on sharing experiences of conflict, discussing how Forward Thinking’s findings could be applied to the Palestinian context, and the role of the international community in supporting Palestinians.
On 27 February Oliver participated in a panel discussion with the Palestinian Union of Teachers and senior educators on the role of education during occupation and the similarities between the Irish and the Palestinian experiences. The discussion was rich and lively, and found many similarities between the two experiences.
Oliver also met with a delegation of Palestinian intellectuals to discuss a visit to South Africa later this year to meet with senior South African and Irish leaders involved in both the South African end to apartheid, and the Northern Irish peace process.
On 28 February, Oliver participated in an open discussion with researchers and activists from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. He shared the findings of Forward Thinking’s Women Parliamentarian Network Report 2021, which many discussion participants felt were relevant to their circumstances in Gaza. These included recommendations for parliamentarians, policymakers, and NGOs that covered a range of topics. For example, the report recommends that women be better represented in decision-making processes without being placed in purely ‘cosmetic’ leadership roles, and that investment in public health, education, and childcare must be increased and framed as being an investment in capital, rather than a cost.
Participants requested that Forward Thinking help push for the release of female prisoners in Gaza who they felt had been unjustly imprisoned. The discussion was filmed by several outlets, including Al Jazeera.
Later that day, Oliver delivered a lecture on the war in Ukraine and its repercussions on the Palestinian cause and the Middle East to students and professors of the Politics Department at the Islamic University. The debate that followed this presentation highlighted the inconsistency in the application of international law. Many participants felt that the international community has been quick to condemn the Russian invasion and offer support to Ukraine but has been reluctant to criticise Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
Oliver also met with members of the student union.
Later that day, Oliver met with academics and professors from the Association of University Professors to discuss the war in Ukraine and the Palestinian cause.
These meeting are a part of an overall programme aimed at promoting dialogue and debate within the Gaza context regarding the current conflict and ways to resolve it.